Historic Preservation Awards Winners Announced
Historic Preservation Awards Winners Announced
Fresno, Calif. – Individuals and groups who have been active in the restoration of a historic building or who have offered leadership in preservation planning or neighborhood revitalization have been announced as the winners of the 2012 City of Fresno’s Historic Preservation Awards.
They will be recognized at a special ceremony by Fresno Mayor Ashley Swearengin and other legislators during Thursday’s Fresno City Council meeting at 8:30 a.m. at City Hall. The seven winning projects are all located in Fresno’s Downtown Triangle, and are outstanding examples of restoration and rehabilitation.
The following are the winners and their projects.
Homebuilder Granville Homes has fully restored the 1922 Flora Montague Bungalow Court located at 950 E. Divisadero St., which had previously been damaged by two fires.
The City of Fresno’s Housing Division is recognized for its effectiveness in serving customers and the restoration of several older single-family properties.
InterVarsity’s FIFUL and architect Christopher Johnson AIA, along with volunteers restored the c1902 “Towne Apartments” at 1717 L St. The c1902 Helm Home, which is two doors down, is currently being redeveloped as office space as an example of adaptive reuse.
In examples of transforming commercial spaces into living units, developer Reza Assemi took the c1936 Le-Moss Smith Tire Company building on Broadway and created 23 live/work lofts, and Pyramid Homes, along with Marvin Armstrong, took the 1953 office building 64 N. Fulton and turned it into 19 studios.
The “In-fill/Sustainable” cagetory has a single winner this year, with the Lowell Community Development Corporation and Robin Goldbeck Architects’ new single-family residence on 415 N. Calaveras.
Other individuals and groups will be honored for their efforts in the areas of history, architectural research and community service. Mike Clifton, Ph.D. is one honoree who has spent more than 20 years of service on the Tower District Design Review Committee, and Barbara Fiske will be acknowledged for her many years of involvement on committees and projects in the Lowell Neighborhood. Michelle Henderson Swift is the recipient of the “Horizon Award” for her involvement at the 1929 Warnor’s Theater site, and lastly Elizabeth Laval will be given the “Russell and Pat Fey Memorial Preservationist of the Year” award for her painstaking efforts in preserving her grandfather’s 100,000 iconic photographs through the Pop Laval Foundation.
Karana Hattersley-Drayton, historic preservation project manager with the City of Fresno, said it wasn’t hard to select the winners because the most meaningful projects in downtown are already known.
“I think it’s an amazing group, and so much diversity, and I think that’s very exciting,” Hattersley-Drayton said. “I think it’s very meaningful that several of those properties are properties that were abandoned, burned, brought back from the brink, and it can happen that someone can put them back in to serve.”
